... but when you see someone else has done an outstanding job in tackling a major problem, it's worth a mention and a boost."
This quote opened a short editorial by Boston's Westinghouse station, WBZ-TV, recommending viewers read the special Monitor supplement on energy. "We've done 28 editorials on the subject over the past year," the station's general manager noted. "In researching our editorial series, we've been through a stack of books, reports, articles, letters, and other materials. In 14 pages the Monitor supplement does a better job of presenting the facts and the options than anything else we've seen."
The commentator went on to say the supplement can be ordered from the Publishing Society or purchased at Christian Science Reading Rooms around the country.
A few days after the editorial had been aired, a local Reading Room librarian had to order more copies. The original order, she explained, had been sold to newcomers who had never been in a Reading Room.
The fruitage from the present Monitor reprint program has grown out of a specific desire by the management of the Publishing Society to further promote the interests of Christian Science.See Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs.Eddy, Art. XXV, Sect. 1. The program extends the use of materials in the Monitor and creates an accurate portrayal of the paper that should increase circulation. When a series has been decided on, reprint possibilities are looked at in the planning stages. Questions are asked to help determine whether or not a series should be reprinted.
These questions grow out of an evaluation of the practical ways in which the Monitor can support the breaking up of material beliefs and the appearing of spiritual good—increasing morality, building bridges, presenting constructive approaches to issues, being solution-oriented, breaking limitations, healing untoward conditions, bringing out good, and providing inspiration.
The motivation for the series and for the reprint program has had some far-reaching effects. From California a librarian reported that a man from a nearby town came into the Reading Room to buy enough reprints of "After Permissiveness, What?" to share with members of the local city council. The same series of articles was mentioned on the Billy Graham television program, and it was suggested that everyone read all the installments.
Incidents such as these are wonderful promotion for the Monitor and its reprints. But they are also a sign of public receptivity to the values cherished and espoused by the Monitor staff and every Christian Scientist.
'77 Annual Meeting program will be confined to one day
Members of The Mother Church planning to attend the 1977 Annual Meeting will want to know that the Annual Meeting program, including related meetings that in the past have frequently extended over several days, will be confined in 1977 to one day, Monday, June 6. In addition, a few departments will be holding limited-attendance workshops for those directly engaged in these activities; admission to these workshops will be by written invitation. More information will appear in future issues of the journal.
Hotel reservation forms may be obtained by writing the Visitors' Section of The Mother Church. (Those writing from the United States please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.) The form includes a map showing hotel locations, and it lists types of rooms and rates. This form should be returned to the Greater Boston Convention and Tourist Bureau by May 1 at the very latest.
If you are interested in dormitory and rooming house information, or require a hotel reservation form, please write to:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Visitors' Section, P133
Guard and Guide Services Division
Christian Science Center
Boston, MA, U.S.A. 02115
Teaching Sunday School pupils to heal
Some months ago in this section the Board of Directors stressed the importance of teaching Sunday School pupils how to heal.See Journal, April 1975, pp. 231-232; Among the fine letters in response were several from Sunday School superintendents asking for suggestions on how best they might proceed.
We thought it would be helpful to let the whole Field in on some of the ideas the Department of Branches and Practitioners is sharing with individual churches.
—Sunday School reports from branch churches indicate that the most effective teaching is done from the teacher's own understanding and demonstration of Christian Science. As he is actively challenging his own problems with the truth of being, the teacher naturally is more able to perceive the needs of others and to teach healingly.
—Sunday School teaching can stress that Christian Science heals because it is true. Bible stories, the Ten Commandments, "the scientific statement of being,"See Science and Health, p. 468. any material being taught, can be viewed as God's Word, which heals. The letter of Christian Science, together with the spirit, of course, can be shown as absolutely applicable to what the pupils deal with every day. Accounts of Bible characters relying on God for help and healing can be related to the pupils' own lives. Open, loving sharing of the teacher's own experiences enables pupils to feel comfortable sharing in Sunday School what some of their challenges are. Explaining how one has solved a problem or how his prayer resulted in healing is an important part of learning how to heal.
—The children's articles and testimonies in the Sentinel, as well as attendance at Wednesday evening testimony meetings, can also be helpful to children in perceiving how Christian Science heals.
—There are a great many ways that a Sunday School staff can prepare for a greater emphasis on healing in its teaching. The most vital step, of course, is the individual study, prayer, and practice on the part of each teacher. "Mental Treatment Illustrated" (see pp. 410-442) and the chapter "Teaching Christian Science" in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy contain a number of helpful ideas on teaching how to heal. Another way might be a staff meeting to discuss the teaching of healing. The whole staff might wish to pursue a study topic on healing or to pray in support of a specific idea. As ideas unfold through this activity, teachers will have more concepts to use in class and will want to share their approaches and results with each other.
—Active, successful healing is a unique contribution of Christian Science. It deserves a sacred place in the Sunday School curriculum.
'When we invest we also want to benefit humanity'
Two goals mark most investment policies: the preservation and long-term appreciation of funds. But The Mother Church's investment policy includes a third objective—a desire to aid humanity.
In the following interview, Marc Engeler, Treasurer, and Michael West, an Assistant Treasurer and Investments, Gifts and Endowments Manager, discuss how The Mother Church invests.
How important are investments to The Mother Church?
M.E. At present only a small percentage of The Mother Church's annual income is from investments. Because we would like to give The Mother Church an additional source of income, we hope to build up our investments to achieve this goal.
What do we invest in?
M.W. The Mother Church's portfolio includes a balance of high-quality bonds that are medium-to short-term in length, as well as stocks. When we invest there are certain criteria we follow in addition to not buying stocks in liquor, drug, or tobacco companies. For example, a company must:
—be valued at over $100 million (this figure is arrived at by multiplying the price of the shares by the number of shares outstanding)
—have good management and management practices
—have a good earnings record
—be in an industry that shows promise
—with few exceptions, be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
If we should have stock in a company that has diversified into a business activity incompatible with the standards of Christian Science, we reevaluate those stocks. For example, if we should have shares in a firm that acquires holdings in the liquor industry, we would sell the stock.
The other area we don't invest in is real estate. The present holdings around The Mother Church were purchased to provide space for ultimate expansion and were not intended as an investment.
Does the Church have a specific investment policy?
M.W. It does. We want to aid humanity when we invest as well as care for church funds. Recently we bought some stock in a company manufacturing agricultural machinery. The investment was made not only from the basis of the stock's performance but from the obvious need in the world for increased foodstuffs. Interestingly, it has outperformed many of our other stocks.
Mr. Engeler, this relates to your Annual Meeting report when you said: "The mission of our Church isn't alone to heal what has already gone wrong in the world but to lead the world into higher and holier concepts of everything, including money, supply, reserves, security."
M.E. Well, as Christian Scientists we could do a much better job in letting Truth enlighten human understanding about the nature of substance. However hard one tries to elevate his view of money, by thinking in terms of money we are still starting from the human and not the divine standpoint. We pray, not to get supply, but to see how substance is already expressed and to support that expression.
Christian Scientists have a wonderful opportunity to see substance not as something that comes to fill a void or as something that has to be accumulated, but as the inevitable result of divine law fulfilling itself. Seen in this light, money, reserves, take on a different dimension. They will reflect in some degree the inevitable appearing of the infinite idea in human consciousness and we should work to support that appearing.
Given what you have just said, why do we invest at all, since investments have an element of risk?
M.W. There is an important difference between investment and speculation. The latter often includes elements of chance, greed, and manipulation. Investment in a higher sense can involve the implementation of ideas to aid humanity. So, we try to support constructive segments of this country's economy as well as some overseas businesses.
M.E. Investments come under the heading of "suffer it to be so now." They are not a substitute for an understanding of spiritual substance. However, from a practical standpoint it would be unprincipled to keep the Church's money idle. At this time, well-chosen investments are a good protection against inflation. If savings accounts paid interest that matched the inflation rate, we would consider them, but they don't.
How often is this policy reevaluated?
M.W. The overall policy is constantly monitored. An investment committee meets approximately every four weeks to review in detail the list of investments, and overall performance is measured every three months.
How has this policy stood the test of the past four years?
M.W. The performance has been better than that of leading market indicators.
Given the fact the stock market is right now about where it was eight years ago, and many stocks are valued at where they were 10-12 years ago, why invest in common stock at all?
M.E. What you say is true for the market in general. When stocks are not chosen wisely, this can happen. In the long term, if stocks are carefully selected and bought with the purpose of supporting the appearing of good, they must flourish.
What can the individual member do to support this work at headquarters?
M.E. Members can share well-thought-out concepts with the Treasurer's Department. Then there are the channels provided for actual giving. The Per Capita Tax form lists a number of funds that welcome contributions all year round. The General Fund offers the most flexibility to the Church; the other funds are for specific areas of need. The Endowment Fund was established by the Directors just last year and is for money that might be above what one would normally give. Interest from this fund goes to the General Fund, but the principal can't be touched except in the case of an emergency. We hope the Endowment Fund will eventually complement our present investments as an additional source of income.
Those of us who work with The Mother Church's finances are extremely grateful for donations to these funds because contributions reflect our demonstrated level of substance and what we, the members of The Mother Church, understand Church to be. As our concept of Church continues to expand and develop, whatever is needed to express it will unfailingly appear.
Over 300,000 took tours at the Center last year
Guides who conduct tours at The Mother Church can tell of many interesting experiences with scores of first-time visitors. Last year over 300,000 took one or more tours.
Most of these people know little if anything about Christian Science. But they come by the busloads, tourists and schoolchildren, and many on foot, attracted by the beauty of the buildings and their surroundings, interested in knowing what kind of church it is.
It is, without doubt, one of the best outreach opportunities available to the church.
One tour guide's fruitage report reads: "It is such a joy to see the faces of our guests light up as they enter the auditorium [of the Extension]. They listen and then they ask interesting questions about Christian Science. One young man stayed behind after a tour to ask how to study Christian Science. It gave me a good opportunity to show him [in the Journal] where to find the locations of churches, Reading Rooms, practitioners, and accounts of healing."
Another reports: "We had over 500 visitors today, including 28 tours. In every group I guided there was a great deal of interest. I gave away two textbooks after answering many questions. I talked with five people from Mexico, four from India, 30 from the Netherlands, and many others. All took literature with them."
From Florida come two reports of people who found Christian Science while visiting Boston. Staying at a hotel in the area and attracted by the beauty of the church, the first couple set out the next morning to see what they could find out about the religion. To their surprise they found the church was open for tours. The couple were facing problems. They were relocating from another country and felt insecure and fearful of the future.
"The love expressed by the guide, the way she explained Christian Science, filled us with peace," the woman said. "We left there healed!"
Their guide also gave them a Herald in Spanish. The couple returned to Florida and, through the Herald, found a church that held services in Spanish. Today they are members of this Florida branch, and their two children are pupils in the Sunday School.
Another woman from Florida also met a Spanish-speaking tour guide in much the same way as the couple did. The visitor says she will never forget the guide's warmth. The woman spoke of several physical difficulties, including a heart problem. The guide recommended that she purchase a copy of Science and Health at a Reading Room. This the visitor did immediately upon leaving the church. She began to study it and soon found herself free from the heart problem. Today she is a member of both a branch church and The Mother Church, and she returned this year to attend the Annual Meeting.
New reading aloud series—practical and informative
Twelve consecutive articles containing specific points on reading aloud will begin in the January Journal.
The first of the yearlong series presents a spiritual approach to reading in public. The next 10 discuss practical skills, and the concluding article explains how a metaphysical basis can be combined with polished skills to give the reader an established sense of dominion on the platform.
The authors bring considerable reading and speaking experience to the series. Conversational in tone, short and to the point, each article appears on a single page so that it can be easily saved for reviewing.
The year-end index now in all the Heralds
Beginning this year, all Heralds will include an annual index of published articles. The format will be similar to that of the Sentinel and Journal—alphabetical author and title listings with some articles cross-listed under topic headings.
The index, found in the year-end issue of each periodical, can aid anyone doing serious study as well as provide a quick review of the year's published material, including editorials, poems, and announcements from the Board of Directors. For example, a child, with the help of a parent or Reading Room librarian, can locate Sentinel articles for children. And branch members will find that the journal index (at the end of this issue) gathers into an easy-to-use format a diverse range of subjects such as Reading Room, Sunday School, Care, Lecture, and other branch church activities.
The Clerk's Department needs your help
Keeping in touch with all the members of The Mother Church is no small task. Daily, letters to members come back to The Mother Church marked "No longer at this address." It's up to the Clerk's Department to maintain current addresses for all members, but it's difficult—sometimes impossible—without their help.
Branch churches and societies near where the member lived are generally the best lead, and the Clerk's Department appreciates the branches' thoroughness in helping to obtain new addresses. But if this proves unsuccessful, the search doesn't stop there. If the member is class-taught, a query might go to his or her teacher or association. Another contact could be the person who approved the member's application for Mother Church membership. Or if a member of the individual's family is known, an inquiry through that source would be made.
Of course, all this work is expensive when multiplied by the thousands of members the Clerk's Department continues to seek good addresses for. Each summer the department employs a group of college students whose sole job it is to trace members The Mother Church hasn't been able to reach. This is in addition to the year-round group of volunteers who help on this project.
As you can see, when a letter from The Mother Church tells a member how much he's appreciated, it means what it says. The Church goes to considerable lengths to ensure that it will always be able to extend its love and appreciation to each member.
If you're a member who has moved and think you might not have notified the Clerk, she would appreciate your taking a few moments now to send her your address. You'd be helping to make her job a whole lot easier.
